Ever Wondered What Happens When a Dingo Meets a Coyote!

Coyotes look a lot like wolves which can be interesting when they meet up with humans and an eager dingo

Ever wonder what might happen when a wild dingo meets a Coyote? Well this is exactly what happened right here.

How it Went Down Meeting The Dingos

So I’m gonna get to go inside the enclosure with the dingoes themselves. You nervous at all? Watch your back, Mark, here they come. There are over 375 species of mammals that call Australia home, and almost all of them are completely unique to this continent.

From hopping kangaroos and cuddly koalas, to sleepy wombats and the adorable brush tail possum, we have the chance to get up close with some of the country’s most iconic species. However, these animals are primarily herbivores, which means that they eat plants. So what about the carnivorous mammals? You know, the ones who eat meat, like us.

So Many Meat Eaters in One Place

Well, as it turns out, there are many carnivores, and my goal is to get up close with one of the country’s top mammalian predators, and the best way to do that is to work with a pack of them at the Billabong Sanctuary.

Get ready, it’s time to find out whether or not a coyote will be accepted into the dingo pack. A lot of people have requested we do an episode with the dingo, and sure enough, we’re being given the opportunity today at the Billabong Wildlife Sanctuary.

And I’m gonna get to go inside the enclosure with the dingoes themselves. This is gonna be awesome. No, they told me that dingoes are incredibly friendly, very intelligent canines. They can be very cute beast but remember that all animals can be dangerous if you drop your guard.

We’re ready for me to go in? – We are indeed. – Okay, anything that I need to know before I get into the enclosure? – Not with these guys. – No? – They’re pretty tame. Okay, pretty friendly just like palling around with some puppy dogs. Now, you said to go in through this gate. So we go in through the gate.

Meeting the Coyotes For The First Time

The moment of truth, opening up the gate to see if I can become one of the pack. Here we go. Oh, boy, hi! I’m coming in. Oh, this is amazing. Look at you guys. All right, so far, so good. Okay, all right, hi. How are you? How are you? Hello, there.

Oh, welcoming kisses. How about that? – I’d say you’re in. – I am in. All right, I’m gonna take off my pack here and just sort of sit it down on this log. And I think what’s probably best is if I just sit here on the rock and see if the dingoes will come to me. Come here, guys. Come here, hey, come here. Look at you. So, what’s this one’s name? – King – King? Hi, King, how are you? You know, I’ve got some kangaroo meat right here.

Feeding Time With The Dingos Was Just Crazy

Would you like some kangaroo meat? Oh King, look at this. Look, bud. This is my offering, kangaroo meat. Boy, that’s good, isn’t it? Now, I would try this kangaroo meat, but it’s raw, and I don’t think that’s gonna make my stomach feel good. Okay, let’s see, here we go. Yeah, you are so gentle. Look at how he just carefully takes that out of my hand.

Meeting Alira and King, Resident Dingos

There you go. Okay, that’s good, huh? Now this is a very classic dingo. – Oh yeah, look at that kind of goldish coloration to the coat and slender design of the body. Look at those big paws too. What’s this one’s name? – Alira. – Alira. Hi, Alira, how are you? So we’ve got Alira and King. You look like you’re king of the rock over there, huh? Kind of gotta let them get used to us being in the enclosure and get used to the cameras.

I’m gonna sit down right here, King. Is that cool, hi. Lira, how are you doing? And what’s the third one’s name? – Kalari. – Kalari, and she’s just laying down in the sun over there, huh? They kind of look like Shiba Inus, don’t they? How ya doing? So noble up there on top of that rock.

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There he goes, cool. You guys sniffing my pack? Sniffing the pack? Hi, how are you doing? – What’s their coat feel like? – Incredibly soft. You can feel on top there are these coarser guard hairs, but they’re a lot softer than a wolf or a coyote.

All this fur right here is really bushy. Go ahead Mark, put your hand out there and feel how soft her coat is. Oh, wow. So gentle, right? Your teeth look really clean. This is a good thing.

It’s amazing how calm and peaceful they are. Yeah, just having a good hangout, huh? So you didn’t expect this, did you? – Did not expect to be in an enclosure with a dingo today. No, I certainly did not. It’s a good thing I’m not allergic to dogs ’cause I’m getting fur and dander all over me.

Completely Unfazed by The Presence of Human Beings

And they seem to be completely unfazed by us having the cameras in here, and I think they’re pretty well acclimated to us at this point. I honestly thought it would take a couple minutes for them to kind of, oh, and now as I say that, they kind of run off.

But they absolutely love it. And of course, kangaroo and wallaby would certainly be on the menu for these animals, since to take down the size of a kangaroo, the dingo would actually need to be hunting in a pack. Now, this is the apex land mammalian predator here in Australia.

Dingos Look So Much Like Wolves Except They Are Not

Dingos look so much like wolves at times it is uncanny

I mean, just right now, it’s interesting the way they walk looks just like wolves. All right, let’s see if we can really get into the situation with the dingoes. Hi, you guys wanna play? Do you wanna play? Who wants to play? Come here, hi, okay. Okay. We’re gonna go right here, get down on the ground. See if we can get you guys in here.

There we go. Oh, like a big lap dog, huh? All right, now get in the shade here. Hi, oh, look at those paws. Look at those paws. Oh, belly rub time, huh? Oh, there we go. I’m gonna lay down right there with you, okay. Let’s see, look at those big ears.

You see those ears? For incredible sense of hearing, and they do a lot of their hunting at night when it’s cooler out, and of course, they have amazing eyesight for hunting in the dark. It was close. Close to getting her to be right here with me.

Now she’s behind you on that side, Hi, come here. Working on it. You guys wanna see if we can get a dingo to climb a tree? That would be cool for sure, lets see if Dingo’s can actually climb trees or not?

Can Coyotes Climb Trees?

Incredible but true as coyotes can climb trees

Now, in the United States, I know that coyotes have been seen occasionally climbing trees. But certainly something like a gray fox is capable of getting up into a tree. But something like a dingo, which as large as this animal is, you would think wow, how are they actually gonna get up into that tree?

Moving Like a Cat

Watch this. Move up. There it is. Wow, look at the way that he’s able to just spread his claws out almost like a cat. Look at that agile jump, just kind of can completely turn his body to land right in that spot. That was awesome.

All right, well, dingoes can climb trees. Okay guys, so we’re gonna try to switch up the tactic a little bit. I was kind of coming into the enclosure being quiet, letting the dingoes get acclimated to me, and they seem pretty comfortable at this point.

So we’re gonna try to up the excitement a little bit, and I’m actually gonna start running in the other direction and see if I can get them to chase me. Ready for that? – Sure. – All right, let’s see what happens. Come on, buddy, come on. (exciting drum music) Here we go. Now they’re moving. Just gotta get ’em fired up a little bit. All right, playing tag with the dingoes. Now, I’ve got them excited, and they’re playing with each other, but I need them to actually chase me.

They Run So Fast

As soon as I started running that way, King took off after me and then the other two sprinted right after. Watch your back, Mark, here they come. Hi! and Whoa. – It’s like a flash. There you go, Candy, whoa! – Hi, Candy, come here. Whew, I can’t keep up with them.

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They’re so fast. I can make like halfway down, and then they both pass me in the other direction. King is definitely leading the charge right now. Whew, it’s getting dusty in here. Might be getting on your lens a little bit. But they are definitely getting excited. So coming into the enclosure, getting acclimated, and then getting ’em to play definitely was the right tactic.

Come here, you. Come here. Ooh, probably don’t wanna get in the middle of that though. I don’t have real thick flesh on the side of my neck. – [Crew Member] Get down a little bit. – Okay, good boy, Duke, come here. All right, let’s take ’em over to the water trough here. Check this out. You guys, getting a drink? Getting a drink.

Time to Rest in The Shade

Ah, that was a good run, huh? I can see what King is doing right now is just kind of laying in the shade, and the ground is rather cool. Now, when it’s really hot out, dingoes will just sort of nestle down in the shade, and they’ll dig these little kind of circular burrows that they can then curl up in. And as they get a little deeper into the soil, the ground is a little cooler.

It helps them regulate their body temperature. Let’s get this chance now while King is sort of laying down like this to look at the body structure of the dingo. Look at how lean this animal is. And it’s definitely a hunter, that’s for sure.

Such long legs, big paws, sharp claws, and look at this narrow sort of waistline. You can see all this muscle in the back haunches there, obviously give them the ability to leap pretty high into the air, straight up vertical.

Coyotes Are Such Big Jumpers Also

King can probably jump about five to six feet straight up. Let’s take a look at King’s paws. Look at those pads there. The paws aren’t quite as big as the paws of a wolf. Now obviously because they aren’t out there in the snow, their paws don’t need to spread quite as far. But when we saw King climbing up the trees, he was able to grip on with his claws almost like a cat.

And see this space right here? This is where their paws are capable of curling under and holding onto things, whether it’s a tree limb, or if they’re hunting and they leap onto their prey, they can grabble onto it and then inflict a death bite. They don’t rest for that long, do they? – No, King said okay, if you’re gonna play with my paws, I’m heading this way.

There we go. Is that the spot right there? Now just like a dog, you gotta find that right spot for a good scratch. Yeah, there we go. All right. Well, this was pretty awesome so if you enjoyed this post your might want to check out more just like it. Hanging out in the dingo enclosure, getting acclimated, eating some kangaroo meat, having a run, and now it’s time to just relax in the shade.